MARCH 7, 8–21, 28
SPRING FLAKES
Adrenaline junkies, rejoice: Red River Ski Area (575- 754-2223; redriverskiarea.com) debuts the new Pioneer Flyer, a hair-raising seated zipline that zooms from the lower slopes clear across Pioneer Road. Hop on during the resort’s spring-break-themed Beach Weeks, which for the first time spans a fortnight, each week featuring fireworks, a rail-jam jib contest, a scavenger hunt, and beach parties (don your finest hula skirt). The slopes light up on March 7 at Taos Ski Valley for Ernie Blake’s Birthday Torchlight Parade and Fireworks—skiers carrying flare “torches” snake down the mountain, creating a splendid light show (575-776-2291; skitaos. org). Bonus fun: The TSV Spring Beer Festival takes place at the Martini Tree Bar and Tenderfoot Katie’s Cafeteria that same day. At family-popular Sipapu, bring your A game—and maybe some bungee cords and a carload of old moving boxes—to partake of Cardboard Derby on March 14. Two weeks later at Sipapu, only the brrrrr...avest skiers and boarders compete in the Pond Skimming Contest. The goal is to “skim” across manmade, three-foot-deep, 75-foot-long Lake Sipapu. (800) 587-2240; sipapunm.com
SISTER ACTS
More than 120 artists, scribes, musicians, and other artsy types represent women’s contributions to Duke City culture at Albuquerque’s monthlong series of programs and presentations called Women & Creativity. To celebrate the event’s 10th anniversary, organizers brainstormed Ten for the Tenth into being. “We’ve worked with our partners to come up with 10 special featured events, organized collaboratively,” says coordinator Julia Mandeville. One example: Albuquerque’s always provocative Tricklock Theatre Company hosts Mnemosyne’s Lounge on March 12 and 13, a “wild, raucous evening” of inspired storytelling and performance. Other highlights include installations and performances at the Albuquerque Balloon Museum and highly popular Creative Salons—informal gatherings ideal for networking—held on Wednesday evenings. womenandcreativity.org

MARCH 6–8, 21–22
HOT/CHOCOLATE
Here’s a memorable approach to attending Albuquerque’s National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show at Sandia Resort & Casino: Try finding the product with the most colorful name—perhaps a bottle of Ben’s Smokin’ Hot Razz Booty sauce from PuckerButt Pepper Company, vying for your attention alongside the evocative Earl’s Gone Wild! Habanero Jam. Cookbook author Rachel Rappaport, who penned the spicy page-turner Cooking with Frank’s RedHot Cayenne Pepper Sauce, will share recipes at this “hottest show on earth” (505-873-8680; fieryfoodsshow.com). Later in the month, savor the sweet scent of cocoa (and jolts of java) at the fifth annual Southwest Chocolate & Coffee Fest, held at EXPO New Mexico March 21–22. Cooks from the Santa Fe Culinary Academy will conduct demonstrations, and local blues and jazz bands—as well as the Albuquerque Youth Symphony—perform on stage. New this year: a venti–size coffee-and-wine lounge featuring Cupcake Vineyards’ mobile wine-tasting truck. (505) 510-1312; chocolateandcoffeefest.com

MARCH 7–8
TRUE WEST
The always rowdy and rollicking Cowboy Days return to Las Cruces’ outstanding New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum. Both veteran wranglers and budding buckaroos appreciate this high-flying spectacle featuring gunfight demonstrations, authentic chuck- wagon cooking, and stagecoach rides. Don’t miss the roping, riding, and mounted shooting demonstrations. (575) 522-4100; nmfarmandranchmuseum.org

MARCH 12, 15, 22
HIGH NOTES
Santa Fe hosts a bevy of concerts in mid-March, beginning with a March 12 performance at Lensic Performing Arts Center by Grammy-winning opera star (and Roswell native) Susan Graham (505-988-1234; lensic. org). On March 15 at the Lensic, 26-year-old rising-star pianist Sean Chen joins the Santa Fe Symphony for a Beethoven Festival that includes the legendary composer’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral,” and Symphony No. 2. March 22, to celebrate Johann Sebastian Bach’s 330th birthday, Serenata of Santa Fe presents Bach Mix, featuring harpsichordist Kathleen McIntosh, at First Presbyterian Church (serenataofsantafe.org; 505-989-7988). That evening, distinguished New Mexico musicians present Magnificat and Easter Oratorio at New Mexico Museum of Art’s St. Francis Auditorium. (505) 886-1251; nmperformingartssociety.org

MARCH 19–22
QUICK HITS
The state’s only short-film exhibition, the Taos Shortz Film Fest, returns for its eighth installment in late March. “This year’s festival kicks off with a Native American program,” says festival founder Anna Cosentine, who’s lined up the director of Santa Fe’s Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), James Lujan, to host a two-hour opening-night screening on March 19. About 150 films from more than 40 countries will screen during the four-day festival, with most of the final day dedicated to New Mexico–based filmmakers. “We call that day the Tamalewood Zia Showcase,” she adds. taosshortz.com

Strings Attached _265W
Courtesy Chamber Orchestra Kremlin

MARCH 27
STRINGS ATTACHED
Famed for its violin virtuosos, the celebrated Moscow-based Chamber Orchestra Kremlin presents an evening of classical music March 27, at Tydings Auditorium in Hobbs. Earlier in the month, on March 8, you can also watch the host performance company, the Southwest Symphony, perform an afternoon concert of iconic Mozart works at First United Methodist Church. (575) 738-1041; swsymphony.org

Car Show _48Lincoln _265W
Courtesy Della Moyer Photograpy

MARCH 27–28
THE CAR THAT RUTH BUILT
If you’re already headed to Carlsbad for the weekend, make a pit stop along Artesia’s historic Main Street to watch the annual Main Event Car Show & Cruise. The latter takes place on Friday evening, March 27, at 6 p.m., with an auto show the following day at Heritage Plaza. More than 220 vintage roadsters are expected to participate this year. “We’re going to have Babe Ruth’s 1948 Lincoln on display,” says Dorothy Hammond, of the Artesia Car Enthusiasts (ACE) club, which organizes the event. (575) 746-1117; artesiamainstreet.com